{"id":19710,"date":"2025-07-02T15:13:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T15:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/?p=19710"},"modified":"2025-07-02T15:13:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T15:13:11","slug":"deborah-k-tash-painting-between-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/?p=19710","title":{"rendered":"Deborah K. Tash: Painting Between Worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Deborah K. Tash<\/a>, born in 1949 in the Bay Area, works in both image and word\u2014blending painting and poetry into something deeply personal and quietly otherworldly. Her practice is shaped by a mixed cultural background: Mexican heritage on her mother\u2019s side, and Celtic lineage on her father\u2019s. That layered ancestry becomes a kind of compass in her work, guiding her toward subjects that explore identity, memory, and the spiritual weight of place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tash identifies as a Mestiza\u2014not just by bloodline but as a way of navigating the in-between. Her work often feels like it lives there: between cultures, between dream and ritual, between what can be named and what can only be felt. Color and texture draw you in. But beneath them are stories, symbols, and layered meanings that reveal themselves slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three pieces that show different sides of her visual language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Water Spirit Voices<\/em> (Totem Series)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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In this acrylic painting, the frame itself\u2014black, bold\u2014sets the tone. Inside, we\u2019re submerged in a deep blue world filled with bubbles and bordered by vivid pink waterlilies. But what really draws attention are the figures within: two feminine water spirits, half-human, half-fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One spirit swims across the scene in gold, her tail elaborate and bright. The other, in copper tones, turns away, her black hair flowing like ink. Around them drift two real goldfish, blurring the line between natural and supernatural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The composition is calm but alive. There\u2019s no conflict, just movement. The painting doesn\u2019t tell a story outright. It suggests. The spirits seem to belong to the water, not imposed on it. And while they\u2019re mythical in shape, they don\u2019t feel far away\u2014they feel present. As if the water has something to say if you\u2019re quiet long enough to hear it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dreaming of Roses<\/em> (Soft Power Series)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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This piece is built from layers\u2014both visual and symbolic. A stylized vaginal form sits at the center inside a circular shape, surrounded by roses, pearls, and shimmering spheres. All of it unfolds on a soft pink background, with a glowing Native American\u2013inspired cross anchoring the design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The arrangement of objects feels intentional, ceremonial. The pearls, the flowers, the crystal balls\u2014none of them feel decorative. They read more like offerings or protective charms. It\u2019s gentle, but there\u2019s strength here. Not loud. Not confrontational. Just unapologetic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of Tash\u2019s Soft Power<\/em> series, this work looks at femininity through a different lens\u2014one that centers softness as a source of force, not weakness. The piece doesn\u2019t hide. It doesn\u2019t provoke, either. It just exists, open and grounded, asking the viewer to meet it without flinching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Raven Feather New Moon<\/em> (Discourses With The Moon Series)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A watercolor collage, this piece sits somewhere between ritual and dream. The central image is a dark moon, abstract and still. Below it, a hand reaches upward. The hand is painted with soft cloud patterns and holds a copper disk embedded with a crystal\u2014like a gesture offering something unseen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the moon is a ring of copper, rhinestones, and black-and-copper feathers. At the border, painted feathers repeat alongside small pyramids\u2014some inside circles, others inside squares. The colors are muted but rich: bronze, shadow, hints of light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no narrative here, but there\u2019s presence. The whole piece feels like a space for listening. The kind of image that asks for stillness. It\u2019s not trying to explain. It\u2019s holding something sacred and quiet, trusting that the viewer will meet it halfway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Deborah K. Tash doesn\u2019t make art for quick consumption. Her work is layered and meditative. It asks you to take your time. To notice. To sit with the mix of cultures, symbols, and sensations that show up in her visual world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can explore more of her work here:
\ud83d\udc49 fineartamerica.com\/profiles\/deborah-tash<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continues to make art that honors both lineage and imagination. Her pieces remind us that it\u2019s possible to move between worlds\u2014cultural, emotional, spiritual\u2014and to create something honest from that movement. Something that stays with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deborah K. Tash, born in 1949 in the Bay Area, works in both image and word\u2014blending painting and poetry into something deeply personal and quietly otherworldly. Her practice is shaped by a mixed cultural background: Mexican heritage on her mother\u2019s side, and Celtic lineage on her father\u2019s. That layered ancestry becomes a kind of compass<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artist"},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19715,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19710\/revisions\/19715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoday.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}